Tag: Art
A Morning Serenade
by/from Randy Rainbow!
Poetry: “When Benny Agbayani Became a Met”
For me, baseball takes too long and also I’m a lifer Cubbies fan, but I remember really enjoying listening to my Opa’s Cardinals on the radio in the backyard when visiting in St. Louis, and I enjoyed getting an afternoon in the all-purpose room watching TV as the Mets won the World Series in 1969. Just now, I enjoyed this poem, and I hope everyone else does; it’s about baseball, yet more. Click through, and read a bit about this poem from the author.
==========================
my ancestors rose and cheered.
From their ancient graves,
pairs of arms rose to make the wave.
Every burial site, a stadium and,
for every one of his at-bats
Mayon Volcano spat a puff of smoke
visible for miles. Children in T-shirts
with the number 50, hand-scrawled by Sharpies
would run into the streets and clang
on metal pans calling all to feast
and when Benny’s cleats dug into the box,
the little cloud of dust rising from his spikes
would drift across continents, into the living room
of every Filipino, issuing a sneeze
which would be followed by a blessing.
The diaspora, a flood of blessings,
watching the orange, blue, and white uniforms
pixelated into millions of screens.
Tens of thousands of nurses held their breaths
when they looked up between shifts
and saw him rest the bat on his shoulder
staring down the pitcher. When Benny Agbayani
was a Met, whole families, once torn apart
by distance held each other close, wrapped
together tightly in the embrace of phone cords,
the web of telephone lines crisscrossing the nation.
Each long distance call the shimmering pulse of a wrist
bracing for the recoil of the bat making contact.
When Benny fielded fly balls we’d all look
into the sun for the speck of something—
something to ease us into the heartbeat
of Americana where it was always
summer and the lawn markings
formed grids visible from space.
When Benny Agbayani was a Met we thought
the organ’s roar was for us and the syncopated applause
put us into a rhythm in tune to our hearts.
When Benny Agbayani put his mitt to the ground
to stop a daisy cutter, millions of us put our ears
to the earth to hear the rumblings
of what we hoped would be thousands of footsteps,
following his path. But instead they were galloping
towards home. We’d raise the brim of our caps
and nod our chins at a cool breeze
or the smell of fryer oil. And when Shea
sang in one voice “B-B-B-Benny and the Mets”
we stood and put are hands to our hearts.
We rocked back and forth on our heels
watching the strike zone get smaller
and smaller. Watched as the sun made
our shadows grow and we waited until the roster
made room for us in the show, now and in the ever after.
Copyright © 2024 by Oliver de la Paz. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on October 29, 2024, by the Academy of American Poets.
Humor
In the spirit of laughter being the very best medicine!
Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for October 29, 2024
https://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis/2024/10/29
Close to Home by John McPherson for October 29, 2024
https://www.gocomics.com/closetohome/2024/10/29
I hope to grow up to be this woman:
Free Range by Bill Whitehead for October 29, 2024
https://www.gocomics.com/freerange/2024/10/29
Not as funny, but …
Brian McFadden for October 28, 2024
https://www.gocomics.com/brian-mcfadden/2024/10/28
WuMo by Wulff & Morgenthaler for October 29, 2024
https://www.gocomics.com/wumo/2024/10/29
I’ll just wind it up with today’s Calvin fix:
Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for October 29, 2024
Indeed, ’tis time-
From “The Nib” Newsletter
“The Nib” still comes in email sometimes. This is an item that could be of interest, also not about very current US election news (though there could be a tad here and there. I mean this item; “The Nib” still has plenty political for right now.) Anyway, back to this; I keep thinking there are people reading here who don’t comment, and that maybe any of us is an artist interested in moving forward with their art, and this can help. -A
🤷
So, I can’t tell what’s showing and what isn’t. On the posting page, I can see the little block with the title, the hyperlink, and the tiny blurb. When I look at the preview, though, all I can see is “Home” as a hyperlink; it goes to Crucial Comix. So, below, is a snip from Crucial Comix’s “About” page. Check it out!
==========
home for essential nonfiction comics and zines.
Founded in 2024, we are a cartoonist-run small press that publishes narrative nonfiction comics and offers compelling classes on comics-making and practice.
Our Values
We believe that comics are a powerful way to shape how we perceive ourselves and the world. Comics can capture emotional realities, offering a profound way express feelings and experiences that are impossible to depict in words alone. Comics connect with readers, drawing new eyes to stories about politics, history, and identity. Comics are made around the world by people who want to share their ideas and dreams. In short, comics are crucial.
As cartoonists face down book bans, political censorship, and financial difficulty in publishing boundary-pushing work, it’s more important than ever to build a community of artists that is rooted in mutual support and enthusiasm.
Crucial Comix is all about skill-sharing, accessibility, flexibility, and experimentation. We are a small press that aims to be always evolving so we can be a relevant and reliable resource for artists. Our pitches are always open. Our classes are all offered sliding-scale. Our comics are all free to read. Each season, we welcome a cohort of volunteer editors to guide up-and-coming artists through the process of making a nonfiction comic.
Get Involved
Are you looking to make comics based on real life? You take a class, submit or pitch a comic, or hire Crucial artists and writers to work on your project. You can also hire us to come teach classes or workshops at your school, library, or workplace.
Are you an artist or writer who wants to get involved in our community? You’re welcome to join our mailing list to find out about upcoming events and fun stuff. Everyone who completes a workshop or class with Crucial is invited to join our private Discord. If you’re interested in becoming an editor for Crucial someday, consider taking our editing class.
Want to ask us a question about your particular situation? Feel free to email us at editors@crucialcomix.com. If you’re looking to submit a comic, check out our submission guidelines.
Want to send us a copy of your zines? You can upload a zine to our submissions form or drop them in the snail mail: Crucial Comix, PO Box 17253, Portland, OR 97217
cartoonists4kamala
It’s kinda been a day so I’m just finishing off comics at 9:30 PM Sunday; I found this on the GoComics Non Sequitur page! So cool!
It’s fun to window shop-enjoy!
True, this-
The same thing goes with humans really. by Jenny Lawson (thebloggess)
To be flawed is to be real. Read on Substack
Someone asked me why I draw flowers so often when I don’t really seem like a “pretty, floral kind of girl” and that’s a very fair question (and possibly a hidden insult?) so I made this in response:
“The lovely thing about drawing flowers is that when I fuck them up they just seem more real.”
The same thing goes for people, really. Our strangeness and flaws make us real.
Don’t be afraid to embrace yours, sweet friend.
Love,
Jenny
Maybe Someone Can Use a Short Humor Break?
Enjoy a quick Cover Snark! Click through and enjoy the comments, as well. It is a safe place there.
Cover Snark: Reptiles are an Unintentional Theme
by Amanda · Oct 28, 2024 at 3:00 am · View all 7 comments
Welcome back to Cover Snark!
From Rachael: I have so many questions:
Does she not want him to save her from what looks to be an alligator?
Is that alligator okay? His hips seem off.
Should his gun be that close to the water?
Why are they casually having a moment in this clearly dangerous water??!!
Did they keep their shoes on?
Sarah: She’s a shifter. So is the gator. That’s her brother and she has to talk him out of shooting the gator because again, brother.
Also, how come his shirt is wet at the neck and pits but his pants, which are IN WATER, are dry?
Sneezy: I respect alligators and crocodiles the same way I respect bears and moose – from far, far away.
Sarah: That cover is so disturbing to me. Every time I look at it I get a low-grade ick.
Amanda: Yeah, the shoulder area in particular.
Sarah: Looking again, yup, still ick.
Sneezy: My ick is how OBVIOUSLY COPY AND PASTE they are! THIS IS LITERALLY THE LARGEST AND MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THIS DESIGN!
From Lillian P: Green with fish scales? Red belly and abs? Floating in space? And red and yellow font for the title.
Sarah: Someone got reeeeally excited about learning how to use textures in Photoshop.
Amanda: As someone who owned snakes and has touched many a reptile, I don’t know how I’d feel about sexy time with someone with scales.
Sneezy: I’m really into snake people, but only if they have hemi-penises. What’s the point otherwise?
Also from Lillian P: Not one, not two, but three floating aliens all checking themselves out?
Sarah: I’m so sorry I cannot stop laughing at this. It’s so funny. They’re all so pensive! Glowing swords and kilts and a wee-wee stare-off.
Claudia: Oh man I feel we’ve done this one but maybe all the wee-wee staring is blending together!!
Amanda: They all look like they’ve fallen asleep standing up. Like horses.
